diff --git a/cinderclient/exceptions.py b/cinderclient/exceptions.py
index 41796e34a..751e42592 100644
--- a/cinderclient/exceptions.py
+++ b/cinderclient/exceptions.py
@@ -181,4 +181,5 @@ def from_response(response, body):
         return cls(code=response.status_code, message=message, details=details,
                    request_id=request_id)
     else:
-        return cls(code=response.status_code, request_id=request_id)
+        return cls(code=response.status_code, request_id=request_id,
+                   message=response.reason)
diff --git a/cinderclient/tests/utils.py b/cinderclient/tests/utils.py
index 0deb579bf..d6c48ceab 100644
--- a/cinderclient/tests/utils.py
+++ b/cinderclient/tests/utils.py
@@ -46,6 +46,7 @@ class TestResponse(requests.Response):
         if isinstance(data, dict):
             self.status_code = data.get('status_code', None)
             self.headers = data.get('headers', None)
+            self.reason = data.get('reason', '')
             # Fake the text attribute to streamline Response creation
             self._text = data.get('text', None)
         else: